Upper West Side Condo Can Remove Trump Name, Judge Rules

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — An Upper West Side condominium won the right Thursday to remove the "Trump" name from its building, according to multiple reports.

New York State Supreme Court Justice Eileen Bransten ruled in favor of 200 Riverside Boulevard's condominium board in a challenge against the Trump Organization, the New York Times first reported. The condominium — also known as Trump Place — entered a licensing agreement with the president's real estate company in 2000, but argued that just because the building was allowed to use Trump's name, it was not required to do so.

Unlike many Trump-branded buildings, 200 Riverside is not owned by the Trump Organization. Three of 200 Riverside's neighbors — 140, 160 and 180 Riverside Boulevard — removed Trump's name from their buildings in 2016 after more than 600 residents signed a petition saying they were embarrassed to live in a building with Trump's name.

When the building's board was first considering the name change, Trump Organization lawyers sent a letter warning to sue. In recent proceedings, the Trump Organization asked the building to identify every single building resident that has raised concerns about the Trump name, Washington Post journalist David Fahrenthold reported in April. When the building's residents were polled, 63 percent (158 residents) voted in favor of removing the name, Fahrenthold reported.

A Trump Organization spokesperson said the real estate company is confident that Thursday's ruling will be overturned by an appeals court.

"The decision today by Judge Bransten was limited to a narrow technical issue of law, for which there is no precedent in New York. While we respect Judge Bransten’s ruling, we are confident that the appeals court will conclude otherwise," the Trump Organization said in a statement. "To be clear, this was not a ruling concerning changing the name of the building at 200 Riverside Boulevard, but rather an interpretation of the license agreement and the process that the condominium must adhere to in order to consider future changes."

Thursday's ruling indicates that buildings with similar licensing deals with the Trump Organization could follow suit and drop the president's name.

200 Riverside Boulevard's condo board plans to conduct a building-wide vote to decide whether or not to remove Trump's name from the facade, the New York Times reported. Removing the gold letters would cost upwards of $40,000, according to the report.

Read the full New York Times story here.

Photo by Google Maps street view